Nexus 5 Review

Leon Hitchens

5 years ago

The Nexus 5 is the big brother of the Nexus 4, and continues to improve upon the Nexus line of devices. It has kept the low price tag off contract starting at $349 for the 16 GB model. The Nexus 5 also come out with the white and black versions of the phone from the start. Also one notable feature why everyone buys a Nexus device is it’s running Android 4.4. The phone has an exclusive nexus launcher which makes dialing numbers smarter. Also the Nexus 5 includes 4G and the phone works with all networks! This means it can work on Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile with one single model of the phone.

The screen is a 5 inch full HD display that makes the colors look beautiful and crisp. I’m not going to lie, the screen looks amazing in direct sunlight and other settings. The phone sports a 2.26GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 800 processor, which allows you to zip through the operating systems and apps. I have yet to see the phone struggle even if I opened all the apps I have installed. Everything is snappy and the phone handles even the most process extensive games easily.

The phone comes with a 2,300 mAH, but I’ve yet to see any standard for the battery life. I’ve gone a whole day, 12 or 13 hours, without charging then other days I can barely make it 3 or 4 hours. I’m not sure what is causing this problem, and even The Verge had problems with the battery. They gave the Nexus 5 the lowest score for battery life of any phone. However, I’ve notice as the longer you use it the more the battery life becomes a standard. Also what is different about the Nexus 5 is no removable back, so you cannot replace the battery as easy as other Android powered phones. The back plate is more like the matt back on the Nexus 7, which enables you to hold the phone very easily.

The camera once again has been a huge problem for the Nexus line of devices, but Android 4.4.2 did bring improvements to the camera app. The low light quality is better, and the app still open fairly slowly. But I think these problems can be solve through software updates, and its not a problem with the hardware. The front facing camera is a 1.3 MP camera while the rear facing camera is 8 MP with optical image stabilization. The HDR mode works very well and makes great use of the 920×1080 display (445 ppi) screen.

I think the white version of the Nexus 5 is also pretty darn cool, it looks like a storm trooper if I say so myself. Overall the Nexus 5 is a sold phone for the price, and no one can compete with that now. The 32 GB model is only $399, and the cases for the Nexus 5 are colorful and look great on the device too. I like that Google also bumped up the smallest storage from 8 GB to 16 GB now, but really I don’t know what anyone would do with all that space.

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I’d highly recommend this phone to anyone who loves pure Android or is looking for a phone on a budget. It competes with other phones like the Galaxy S4 or the Moto G. I’d love hear what you think about the Nexus 5, and if you have bought one?